Hale, yeah in the Philippines

PHOTO BY ROGER TINGLE

When news about Lucy Hale being chosen as the next endorser for Bench broke out not too long ago, Pinoy fans of the addicting show “Pretty Little Liars” (where Lucy plays Aria Montgomery) were ecstatic and excited. So when she finally set foot in the country last Feb. 9, fans went crazy, hoping to get a glimpse of the Hollywood star.

This became possible through a very special Bench fashion show called OJ Americana held at the SMX Convention Center of the SM Mall of Asia last Feb. 11. After models strutted in American-inspired clothes (dominant themes included varsity, American indian, cowboy, and hippie), Lucy stepped out and strutted her stuff on the runway.

Well, not exactly; she’s no supermodel, after all. She did something better: waved at everyone while walking, clutching her chest in awe and disbelief over the reception, while mouthing “thank you so much” to everyone and blowing kisses.

PHOTO BY ROGER TINGLE

She even shook some hands, much to the delight of those near the catwalk. Everyone, as expected, went wild—cheering and taking photos and video clips of Lucy, who later on answered questions from the press.

All-American

Asked why she thinks she was chosen to be a model for Bench, she candidly answered that she didn’t really know. “I guess they saw something in me,” she said. “I don’t know what it is.

I guess they chose an all-American girl to be the face of their American line.”

LUCY HALE: “I’ve never experienced anything like this before.” PHOTO BY ROGER TINGLE

Lucy also delighted fans with exciting news about her career—her music career, to be specific: “I can’t say officially when, but I will be doing an album very soon. I don’t know if there are any country music fans here, but I will be doing country. That will be really exciting!”

She also said that she is open to doing a fashion collaboration with Bench, after she designed a set of bracelets for charity for jewelry line Stoney Clover Lane. “Ben, do you want to?” she asked Bench big boss Ben Chan. “I obviously love fashion and it’s such an honor to be the new face of Bench, and I would love to do anything with them. That would be really cool.”

The star even expressed her desire to spread the word about Bench to the rest of the world. “I definitely think Aria should wear Bench on the show,” she said, which made the audience go crazy. “I would like to bring Bench to the US.”  Niño Mark M. Sablan, Contributor

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